Adrian Aucoin
| birth_place = Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | draft = 117th overall | draft_year = 1992 | draft_team = Vancouver Canucks | career_start = 1994 | career_end = 2013 }} Adrian Aucoin (born Adrian Mark Aucoin on July 3, 1973) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman. He most recently played for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing Career Adrian was drafted 117th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, making his NHL debut in the 1994-95 NHL season, playing one game with Vancouver. With the Canucks, he established himself as a significant offensive threat, specifically on the power-play. However, it was not until his fourth full season with the team that this became evident, as he rose from just 3 goals in 1997–98 to 23 the next season, 18 of which came on the power-play, tying Denis Potvin for the NHL single-season record (broken by Sheldon Souray's 19 powerplay goals in 2006–07). In addition to leading all league defencemen in goals and power-play goals in the 1998–99 NHL season, Adrian also led all defencemen in shorthanded goals (2) and game-winning goals (3). However, after one and half seasons, his offensive production dropped to the point where he had only 3 goals through 47 games in 2000–01. On February 7, 2001, Adrian (along with a second-round pick for the 2001 NHL Entry Draft) was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for goaltender Dan Cloutier. He only played 26 regular-season games for the Lightning before being traded in the off-season with Alexander Kharitonov to the New York Islanders for Mathieu Biron and a second-round pick in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. With the Islanders, Adrian put up the most consistent offensive numbers of his career, including a career-high 33 assists and 44 points in 2003–04, resulting in him being chosen to play in the 2004 NHL All-Star Game for the Eastern Conference. He shared a victory in the hardest shot competition with Sheldon Souray of the Montreal Canadiens with a 102.2 mph blast and scored the first goal of the game in a 6–4 win over the Western Conference. In 2004–05, Adrian represented Modo Hockey of the Swedish Elitserien during the NHL lockout. Once NHL play resumed, he signed with the Chicago Blackhawks on August 2, 2005 for four years, and even became the team captain. However, the first two seasons of Adrian's contract were hampered by injuries, and in the off-season prior to the 2007–08 campaign, he waived his no-trade clause and was sent with a seventh-round draft pick to the Calgary Flames for defencemen Andrei Zyuzin and Steve Marr. In his first season with Calgary, he recorded the fifth 30-point season of his career in 2007–08 with 35 points and recorded his sixth 30-point season in the 2008–09 season with 34 points. In the summer of 2009, Adrian signed a free agent deal with the Phoenix Coyotes. There he helped the Coyotes win the Pacific Division in 2012 where the team also got to the Western Conference finals. After three seasons with the Coyotes, Adrian left as a free agent to sign a one-year contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets on July 1, 2012. During the lockout shortened 2012–13 season, he served as an alternate captain with the Blue Jackets. In 36 games, he totalled just 4 assists, but he added a needed veteran presence at the blue line. On November 19, 2013, Adrian announced his retirement and began with the Chicago Blackhawks’ young defensive prospects. Career Statistics Regular season and playoffs International Accolades *Babe Pratt Trophy (Vancouver Canucks' best defenceman): 1999 *Selected to the 2004 NHL All-Star Game Category:1973 births Category:Canadian ice hockey players Category:Canadian ice hockey defencemen Category:Vancouver Canucks draft picks Category:Chicago Blackhawks players Category:Vancouver Canucks players Category:Tampa Bay Lightning players Category:New York Rangers players Category:Calgary Flames players Category:Phoenix Coyotes players Category:Columbus Blue Jackets players Category:Syracuse Crunch players